A novel reducing graphene/polyaniline/cuprous oxide composite hydrogel with unexpected photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Congo red

Abstract In this work, a novel reducing graphene/polyaniline/cuprous oxide (RGO/PANI/Cu 2 O) composite hydrogel with a 3D porous network has been successfully prepared via a one-pot method in the presence of cubic Cu 2 O nanoparticles. The as-synthesized ternary composites hydrogel shows unexpected photocatalytic activity such that Congo red (CR) degradation efficiency can reaches 97.91% in 20 min under UV⿿vis light irradiation, which is much higher than that of either the single component (Cu 2 O nanoparticles), or two component systems (RGO/Cu 2 O composite hydrogel and PANI/Cu 2 O nanocomposites). Furthermore, the ternary composite hydrogel exhibits high stability and do not show any significant loss after five recycles. Such outstanding photocatalytic activity of the RGO/PANI/Cu 2 O composite hydrogel was ascribed to the high absorption ability of the product for CR and the synergic effect among RGO, PANI and Cu 2 O in photocatalytic process. The product of this work would provide a new sight for the construction of UV⿿vis light responsive photocatalyst with high performance.